Wisconsin Phenological Society

Department of Geography U.W. Milwaukee
P.O. Box 413 * Milwaukee, WI 53201
Tel: (414) 229-3740 * Fax: (414) 229-3981
Email: mds@uwm.edu
Homepage: www.naturenet.com/alnc/wps

 2008 - Newsletter

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Contents:
Spring Meeting
Message from the President
Natural History Workshops
Phenology on the Web
Annual Financial Statement
Membership


  
 

WPS Annual Spring Meeting

Friday May 16th, 2008
From 1:30-3:30pm
UW-Waukesha

Northview 040 (Zoology Lab) Those who plan to attend should contact Nancy Dernehl at ndernehl@uwc.edu (262) 521-5524 so she can secure visitors' passes for them before the meeting.

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Message from the President

Well, as many of you know, 2007-2008 was the second snowiest winter in Milwaukee and the highest total received ever in Madison. Although as I write this (on April 9th) there is still a chance of snow this coming weekend, it appears that plant growth signaling the true arrival of spring is not far off!

I continue to work on projects funded by two grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF). One supports my research work, and the other is for development of the USA-National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) Research Coordination Network (RCN). The research project is taking place at a site near Park Falls, WI. Starting in a few weeks, my students will be monitoring the spring phenology of almost 900 trees in several small plots for about a month (from bud break to full leaf expansion). We hope to gain a better understanding of the variability of phenological timing among major northern species, as well as obtain a more representative set of this surface phenological data to compare to measurements taken from satellite. It would be quite useful for us to have as many phenological measurements as possible in the areas close to the research site, so if you live in northern Wisconsin, within 50 miles or so of Park Falls, and would like to help us monitor tree phenology, please let me know!

Nationally, development of the USA National Phenology Network (USA-NPN) continued to accelerate over the last year. A first USA-NPN RCN annual conference was held in late August 2007. Around fifty scientists met as part of this workshop in Milwaukee, WI. A USA-NPN national office has been established on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, and an Executive Director has been hired. An initial USA-NPN Board of Director has also been appointed, with me serving as Chair. Please visit the USA-NPN Plant Phenology Programs web site at http://www.npn.uwm.edu for more details, and consider registering and participating in USA-NPN as well as WPS. Closer to home, we would still very much like to include a geographically distributed set of sites in Wisconsin as a subset of USA-NPN that could contribute long-term observations. If you are associated with a nature center or other similar organization in the State and are interested in this, please contact me.

Lastly, I'd like to once again stress that your observations are extremely useful to the scientific community. Please consider becoming a fully active member of the Society, by recording and reporting phenological observations. As always, your support of the Society and its objectives is greatly appreciated.

Mark D. Schwartz
WPS President

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2008 Natural History Workshops
at the UWM Field Station The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Field Station conducts a series of Natural History Workshops.

These workshops offer an opportunity to study focused topics at college-level instruction under the guidance of noted authorities. Most workshops present two full days of instruction, with housing and meals available at the Station.
Enrollment is limited to 20; the atmosphere is informal and instruction is individualized. Workshops may be taken for graduate or undergraduate credit by enrolling in UWM, Topics in Field Biology. Fees vary.
The 2008 workshop schedule includes the following courses:

Field Herpetology: Identification of Wisconsin Amphibians and Reptiles
Instructor: Dr. Josh Kapfer
May 30 & 31 (Friday & Saturday), June 1 (Sunday) optional

Vegetation of Wisconsin
Instructors: Dr. James Reinartz and Marc White
June 9-14 (Monday-Saturday)

Sedges: Identification and Ecology
Instructor: Dr. Anton Reznicek
June 20 & 21 (Friday & Saturday)

Ecological Geology
Instructor: Dr. Roger Kuhns
July 7-11 (Monday-Friday)

Fishes of Wisconsin
Instructor: Dr. Michael Pauers
July 18 & 19 (Friday & Saturday

Common and Nuisance Algae
Instructor: Dr. Craig Sandgren
July 25 & 26 (Friday & Saturday)

Wetland Delineation
Instructor: Dr. Don Reed
September 12 & 13 (Friday & Saturday)

To Register:
2008 Natural History Workshops
University of Wisconsin
3095 Blue Goose Road
Saukville, WI 53080
262 675-6844 phone
262 675-0337 fax
fieldstn@uwm.edu

More information and registration forms available the Field Station www.uwm.edu/Dept/fieldstation/wkshops.html

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Phenology on the World Wide Web

The world wide web is full of phenological possibilities. Check out the following links:

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WPS Annual Financial Statement

For the fiscal year beginning March 16, 2006 and ending March 15, 2007.

Balance as of March 16, 2006
$4396.18
Withdrawals
Deposits
Interest
$0.00
$178.00
$58.34
Balance as of March 15, 2007
$4632.52

Waukesha State Bank, 100 Bank Street, PO Box 648, Waukesha, WI 53187

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Membership Information

Please support the Phenological Society's objectives by paying annual dues or becoming a life member. Annual dues are used primarily to defray the mailing cost of our Newsletter.
Please send your name, address, and which of the following actions you would like to take:

  • $2 for 2008/09 dues
  • $___ as further contribution to the work of the Society
  • $50 Lifetime Membership
  • Please delete my name from the membership list
  • Please send me information regarding programs of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters


    • Please send to:
    Nancy Dernehl, Treasurer
    Wisconsin Phenological Society
    UWC-Waukesha
    1500 University Drive
    Waukesha, WI 53186
    ndernehl@uwc.edu

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    Click above to view the
    WPS Membership Information Statement (.pdf)


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